Golf roundup: Moore's 65 leads at Memorial as Woods rallies for 70

Thursday

May 30, 2019 at 9:25 PMMay 30, 2019 at 9:26 PM

DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods got off to a slower start than he would have liked Thursday at the Memorial.

That had more do with a stopwatch than a scorecard.

Ryan Moore opened with five birdies in seven holes and never missed a fairway after the first one, posting a 7-under 65 for his best start in his 14th appearance at Muirfield Village. He was one shot ahead of Jordan Spieth, who chipped in for birdie, chipped in for par and holed a 35-foot eagle putt.

Woods made a pair of late birdies to salvage a 70 in his first round since missing the cut at the PGA Championship. He played his back nine in a foursome with Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose and a rules official in a cart timing them because they were so far out of position.

"We were on the clock most of the back nine," Woods said. "That made things a little more complicated."

Getting caught up wasn't easy with various tee shots in water hazards, though it was obvious how far behind they were. Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas were in the group ahead of them, and McIlroy hit his tee shot on the par-4 second into a backyard. With no official nearby, he had to walk 300 yards back to the tee to hit again. That took time. Still, walking off the fourth green, the group of Woods, DeChambeau and Rose still had not reached the third tee.

DeChambeau, who considers such variables as air density and elevation change in his pre-shot routine, went over his allotted time on No. 5 and was given a warning for a bad time. He made birdie, took double bogey from a fairway bunker on the next hole and began his title defense with a 74.

Moore had the lowest score on a rain-softened Muirfield Village. Only two of his seven birdies were longer than 10 feet, and the only time he came close to a bogey was on his opening hole, where he saved par with a 6-foot putt.

He was among 22 players who broke 70, and only 44 players broke par despite the soft conditions. Phil Mickelson, using two drivers this week to go after longer tee shots on a half-dozen holes, opened with a 70.

Spieth looked as though he couldn't miss for the longest time. On his second hole, the par-5 11th, his wedge came up so short on a soft green that it spun off the front. He chipped in from 50 feet for birdie. Another chip from thick rough caught the slope on the back of the par-5 15th green and rolled down to 3 feet for a birdie.

He went out in 32, made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 3 and on the par-5 fifth, his hybrid caught the right side of the green and he rolled in the long eagle putt. Spieth took only 22 putts for the round.

"Six under around Muirfield I'd take any day of the week, no matter what form you're coming into it with," he said. "I felt like I hit more fairways today, gave me some more opportunities, and the putter stayed hot."

Thomas, in his first tournament since the Masters because of a bone bruise in his right wrist, showed plenty of rust in his round of 71. McIlroy had a 75 with two double bogeys, both from tee shots either lost (No. 15) or out-of-bounds (No. 2).

Anirban Lahiri, Marc Leishman and Martin Kaymer were at 67.

Woods made birdies on all but one of the par 5s. His regret was a few loose iron shots that led to bogey, especially on the 13th when he hit 9-iron from the fairway into a bunker that led to a careless bogey. But he finished strong — eventually — and while 10 players from his side of the draw broke 70, he wasn't too far behind.

At least on the leaderboard.

"That was frustrating, because the last eight holes we were on the clock," Woods said. "The group ahead of us ... JT doesn't take a lot of time, Rory plays quick and Jordan was 7 under. So they were obviously playing fast. And we were obviously not."

Higa of Japan shoots 65, leads

in U.S. Women's Open debut

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Looks like experience might not matter at the U.S. Women's Open, at least not in Thursday's opening round.

Japan's Mamiko Higa shot the lowest round in an open debut with a bogey-free 6-under 65. She was a shot ahead of another first-timer in 20-year-old Esther Henseleit of Germany and 19-year-old American amateur Gina Kim, who played all of two rounds at last year's event in missing the cut.

"This is maybe one of the top highest level (tournaments) I've played in," the 25-year-old Higa said through an interpreter.

None of them appeared rattled by the moment.

Higa had birdies on three straight and five of her first 10 holes to go to 5-under par before most others got started. Henseleit, also bogey free, had two birdies over her final six holes. And Kim had an eagle and four birdies on her final eight holes.

"It feels amazing," said Kim, who helped Duke win the women's NCAA title earlier this month. "This is something I dreamed of as a little girl. So being able to finish out strong like that really shows I'm ready to be here."

Higa tied for the third-lowest round in U.S. Women's Open history. Helen Alfredsson holds the record with a 63 in the opening round in 1994.

Celine Boutier of France shot 67.

Sei Young Kim of South Korea and Azahara Munoz of Spain were tied at 68. A group of seven featuring American sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda and another U.S. amateur in Andrea Lee were tied at 69.

Higa has won five times on the Japan LPGA Tour, including a victory in March, but may be best known in her country for marrying sumo wrestler Ikiori last fall on their shared birthdays of Oct. 11.

She qualified for the Open as a top-five money winner on Japan LPGA and being inside the top 50 in the world ranking. Still, Higa didn't hold much hope that she could succeed on a course she hadn't played before last weekend.

Higa, though, got going quickly with birdies on the third, fourth and fifth holes. She got streaky again on the ninth and 10th, putting a bunker shot within 3 feet for a tap-in birdie on No. 9 and rolling in a 25-footer on the 10th to move to 5 under before much of the field even got going.

The 20-year-old Henseleit was a German youth champion who has had six top-10 finishes in seven Ladies European Tour events this season.

Gina Kim had made bogey on her 15th hole to fall back, but struck for the eagle two holes later. She was 141 yards away in a fairway bunker on the eighth hole when her 8-iron landed on the green and tracked into the cup.

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko of South Korea, who won the major ANA Inspiration in April, opened with a 72 as did defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn. Augusta National Women's Amateur winner Jennifer Kupcho and NCAA women's individual champion Maria Fassi both played their first rounds as professionals. Kupcho shot a 71, and Fassi had a 72.

-- Pete Iacobelli, Associated Press

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